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Da Vinci Code put on Trinity syllabus

IT HAS sold more than 18m copies worldwide and been translated into 44 languages. Now The Da Vinci Code, the controversial bestseller by the American author Dan Brown, is to be the subject of an evening course at Trinity College Dublin.

The Decoding Da Vinci module will, among other things, analyse the contentious claim made in the book that Jesus married Mary Magdalene. Dismissed as mumbo jumbo by historians, the book represents an unusual choice of subject matter for the country’s leading academic institution.

Nigel Biggar, a professor of theology and head of TCD’s school of religions and theology, said The Da Vinci Code was chosen precisely because it confused fact with fiction.

“This book picked up real history and mixed it up with myth,” he said. “It has asked people to question religion and take this work of fiction as being half serious. I’ve had well-educated friends ask me